Fastest Last Practice Speed: #9-Kahne 180.965mph goes out 47th out of 53 drivers

THIS IS UNOFFICIAL

Kahne wins pole at Las Vegas: #9-Kasey Kahne won the Budweiser Pole for the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with a speed of 184.856mph for his 1st pole of 2007 and 13th of his career. The speed is a new track record for the re-configured speedway [the old record was also held by Kahne at 174.904mph in 2004] The rest of the top-10 are #40-Stremme, #19-Sadler, #42-Montoya, #31-Burton [best Chevy], #10-Riggs, #41-Sorenson, #14-Marlin, #13-Nemechek and #2-Busch. #22-Blaney was the best Toyota and will start 11th [only two Toyota's made the race] and the best Ford qualifier was #99-Edwards who will start 13th. #21-Jon Wood and #80-Aric Almirola will both make their Nextel Cup debuts in the race. The non-top 35 teams that made the race were: #14-Marlin, #13-Nemechek, #78-KWallace, #15-Menard, #4-Burton, #80-Almirola, #70-Sauter and #44-Jarrett [using a past champions provisional]. See the qualifying results below.(3-9-2007)

Some Qualifying Notes:
#15-Menard had a good first lap to make the race but lost it off turn 4 and spun thru the front stretch grass, no damage.
#47-Schrader lost it off turn 3 and nosed into the wall on his first qualifying lap and will miss his first race in 111 races.
#38-Gilliland ran 13th fastest [at the time] in his first lap, and backed into the wall on his 2nd lap and will have to go to a backup car.
#36-Mayfield's engine sounded down a cylinder and ran a slow lap.
#43-Labonte may had lost a tire, hit the turn 2 wall hard and will probably go to a backup car.
Mostly cloudy, 75° 93° track temp; Winds SE 5-10mph

a GREEN 'IN' means that team/driver have made the race, NOT in the top 35

a RED 'DNQ' means that team/driver will miss the race, NOT in the top 35

Last driver to make an attempt in BLUE

an 'x' in owners ponts pos and RED driver name means that team is NOT in the top 35 and must make the race by speed, for the first five races, the owners pts position is 2007 points position

Qualifying Order:

SchedQualPos

Car#

Driver

Manu

FinalPracticeSpeed

PracSpeedRank

OwnersPointsRank

1

17

Matt Kenseth

Ford

176.621

26

2

2

8

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Chevy

177.643

17

5

3

43

Bobby Labonte

Dodge

173.969

52

21

4

49

* Mike Bliss

Dodge

177.696

16

47-x

5

07

Clint Bowyer

Chevy

178.542

11

17

6

70

* Johnny Sauter

Chevy

177.468

18

13-x

7

00

* David Reutimann #

Toyota

176.962

23

42-x

8

25

Casey Mears

Chevy

176.269

30

15

9

22

Dave Blaney

Toyota

176.858

25

27

10

12

Ryan Newman

Dodge

175.217

39

18

11

21

Jon Wood

Ford

176.603

28

33

12

83

* Brian Vickers

Toyota

174.746

49

34-x

13

84

* AJ Allmendinger #

Toyota

175.518

33

51-x

14

34

* Kevin Lepage

Dodge

172.662

53

50-x

15

20

Tony Stewart

Chevy

175.993

31

11

16

48

Jimmie Johnson

Chevy

178.318

12

1

17

5

Kyle Busch

Chevy

179.110

5

10

18

2

Kurt Busch

Dodge

176.569

29

16

19

88

Ricky Rudd

Ford

175.109

44

22

20

10

Scott Riggs

Dodge

178.595

10

20

21

72

* Brandon Whitt #

Chevy

174.955

46

52-x

22

36

* Jeremy Mayfield

Toyota

175.120

42

46-x

23

31

Jeff Burton

Chevy

179.241

4

7

24

11

Denny Hamlin

Chevy

175.330

37

3

25

96

Tony Raines

Chevy

175.713

32

26

26

44

* Dale Jarrett

Toyota

174.239

50

28-x-PC

27

29

Kevin Harvick

Chevy

176.898

24

4

28

1

Martin Truex Jr.

Chevy

175.109

43

19

29

45

Kyle Petty

Dodge

175.171

41

35

30

55

* Michael Waltrip

Toyota

175.490

35

56-x

31

40

David Stremme

Dodge

178.849

7

32

32

7

Robby Gordon

Ford

177.317

19

31

33

14

* Sterling Marlin

Chevy

178.071

13

25-x

34

18

J.J. Yeley

Chevy

174.808

48

30

35

13

* Joe Nemechek

Chevy

178.832

8

7-x

36

41

Reed Sorenson

Dodge

177.889

14

23

37

4

* Ward Burton

Chevy

177.819

15

49-x

38

26

Jamie McMurray

Ford

174.910

47

24

39

37

* John Andretti

Dodge

174.216

51

44-x

40

38

David Gilliland

Ford

180.475

2

25

41

24

Jeff Gordon

Chevy

177.311

20

6

42

6

David Ragan #

Ford

175.194

40

9

43

42

Juan Pablo Montoya #

Dodge

178.950

6

14

44

16

Greg Biffle

Ford

176.621

27

13

45

01

Mark Martin

Chevy

179.563

3

28

46

19

Elliott Sadler

Dodge

178.696

9

34

47

9

Kasey Kahne

Dodge

180.965

1

8

48

47

* Ken Schrader

Ford

175.496

34

n/a-x

49

15

* Paul Menard #

Chevy

174.984

45

35-x

50

99

Carl Edwards

Ford

175.404

36

12

51

80

* Aric Almirola

Chevy

175.251

38

n/a-x

52

66

Jeff Green

Chevy

177.235

21

29

53

78

* Kenny Wallace

Chevy

177.183

22

48-x

Drivers in RED will be required to qualify on time/speed, not in top 35

an 'x' in owners ponts pos and RED driver name means that team is NOT in the top 35 and must make the race by speed, for the first five races, the owners pts position is 2007 points position, the top-35 are black in 2006 points position and are locked in the field.

Drivers in MAROON will be required to qualify on time/speed, not in top 35BUT has a past champions provisional available if needed, only one is used, so if there are two or more past champs
the driver who has won the championship most recently, gets the spot.

Determining Race Line-Ups - Top 35 Guarantee: At the start of the 2005 season, NASCAR instituted a new procedure for establishing the starting race field in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series [NNCS]. NASCAR revamped the system by simplifying the procedure with teams no longer accruing provisionals throughout the season to gain entry into the starting fields. While starting positions one through 42 in the NNCS still will be determined by qualifying speed, the new system will assure the highest-ranked 35 positions of the NNCS OWNER [not Driver] championship points that have entered the event prior to the entry deadline [usually 13 days before the day of the race] one of those starting positions in the field, providing they have made an attempt to qualify [which usually means the team at least practiced and made an effort to qualify].
The remaining seven positions [36-42] will be assigned to those drivers with the fastest qualifying speeds whose car owners are not among the top 35. The final starting position [43rd] – the champion’s provisional – can be utilized by a car owner whose driver is a current or past NASCAR NEXTEL Cup champion who participated as a driver during the current of previous season and was entered in the event for that owner in that car prior to the entry deadline.
If there is more than one series champion vying for the position, it will be given to the most recent series champion. If the final provisional starting position – 43rd in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup – is not filled by a current or past series champion, it will be assigned to the next eligible car owner according to qualifying results.
Through the first five races of the season for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup, the top 35 in the NNCS of the previous owner championship points entered in the event prior to the entry deadline will be assured one of the 42 starting positions in the field, provided they have made an attempt to qualify. From the sixth race on, the current owner championship points will be used to determine the top 35 each race week. In the event that conditions prevent qualifying from being run, starting positions will be assigned according to the respective series’ current Rule Book.(NASCAR PR)Simple: so the field is set by speed to where the 7th fastest non-top 35 driver is on speed. The any drivers in the top 35 of OWNERS [not drivers points] are placed to the 42nd spot. The 43rd spot is used for the most recent past Cup champion NOT already in the field from being in the top-35 in owners points or one of the seven no top-35. If their is not past champ for the 43rd spot, it goes to the next fastest [8th fastest driver]

What happens if qualifying gets rained out?

If it is the first 5 races of the season, the previous season OWNERS points are used:

#1) - Previous season Owner Points [position 1-35]
#2) - Race winners from the previous and current season not already in the field
#3) - Past Nextel Cup Champions not in by 1 or 2
#4) - Current season Owner Points [Top 35][not in by rules 1-3]
#5) - Current season race attempts ties broken by current owners points standings [not in by rules 1-4]After the 5th race of the season, the current season OWNERS points are used:
#1) - First 35 by current Owner Points
#2) - Last Years Cup Champ or the Event Champion if not already in the field
#3) - Car Owners whose team has won in the previous and current season not already in the field
#4) - Drivers who have won in the previous and current season not already in the field
#5) - Past Nextel Cup Champions not in by 1 thru 4
#6) - Qualifying Attempts with Owners points as the tie breaker
#7) - Qualifying Order Position
(all above apply as long as the team was entered by the entry deadline - usually 7-13 days before the race)